Video Year in Review: California Fall Color in 2012 | KCET

Title

Video Year in Review: California Fall Color in 2012

Zach Behrens is KCET's Director of News, Region and State, working on digital and on-air news products that relate to Southern California and beyond. He is also the Digital Executive Producer for "SoCal Connected."

Growing up outside Chicago always meant fall seasons full of vibrant color, but when I moved to Southern California, that Midwest robustness just wasn't there (plus: jumping into piles of leaves are a lot more fun than ones of palm fronds dropped by Santa Ana winds). And while there was some color on imported trees like the fall-intensive Chinese Pistache, that wonder of walking down a street dotted with yellow, orange, and red was lost -- or so I thought.

"I'm blown away that people say there's no fall color in California," John Poimiroo told me last year when I interviewed about the subject (The 7 Best Spots for Fall Color in California). I was personally blown away that we had so much fall color, even at places I had visited -- just not at the right time of the year.

Poimiroo runs the blog California Fall Color, and after a season of following his posts, I decided to plan a leaf peeping trip to Mono County this past October. I didn't make it during peak color -- that takes having the flexibility to react to his "Go Now" alerts -- but it was pretty close and I had a blast.

The fall color season is now over and Poimiroo on Thursday posted his year in review video (watch it above). If the video or a few of my photos below make you yearn to experience some of the best fall color out there, I recommend you do. My experience this fall was memorable and I plan to make it part of my annual fall travels from now on.

Zach Behrens is KCET's Director of News, Region and State, working on digital and on-air news products that relate to Southern California and beyond. He is also the Digital Executive Producer for "SoCal Connected."